‘Idol Season 10’ winner Scotty McCreery charmed the Manila crowd with his performance of ‘Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not’

MANILA, Philippines – While only one winner emerged during the “American Idol Season 10” finals night, each of the Top 11 finalists showed irrefutable evidence why—out of the thousands of aspiring contenders—he deserves his spot in the “American Idol Live Tour 2011” held at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sept. 20.

Their first time in Asia, the “Idols Season 10” Top 11 has winner Scotty McCreery, Fil-American Thia Megia, Casey Abrams, Haley Reinhart, Jacob Lusk, James Durbin, Lauren Alaina, Naima Adedapo, Paul McDonald, Pia Toscano and Stefano Langone owning the night and connecting with fans via an eclectic repertoire. Despite having many performers, each one of them had his shining moment thanks to good organization.

Opening the 30-song show was “Idol’s” famous OBB of a taped concert introduction by host Ryan Seacrest flashed on screens of different sizes and orientation. The first half started with a winning group performance by the girls who sang Lady Gaga’s "Born This Way" which segued by the by to the '60s-sounding “Forget You” by Cee Lo Green. More, the first half established the division between the first six that were eliminated from the other half (which means the Top 5 finalists performed their solos in the second half).

So the repertoire remains varied, duets and group performances were given between solo performances. The second half started with a solo by cowgirl-chic garbed Alaina, who sang Katrina Elam’s “Flat on the Floor.” The portion ended with an upbeat solo number by "AI" winner McCreery titled “Gone.”

The closing  group medley was presided by Durbin and Alaina who dueted on Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again.” This was followed by Abrams, McDonald and Reinhart's rendition of Journey’s “Faithfully.” Adedapo, Langone, Lusk and Megia did Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” before everyone onstage sang a booming version of Journey’s “Anyway You Want It.”

Highlights

Although every one of them has a lot to boast in terms of singing prowess, some of them outshone the rest with the ability to command a crowd. These "AI" finalists made the crowd rise to their feet, shake their booties, and scream (or sing) their hearts out.

Adedapo consistently showed so much energy on stage. Her best number was her version of J. Lo’s “On The Floor” which came complete with a colorful belly dancer-like costume that revealed her curves.

Next was the Jack Black look-a-like Abrams’ who sang Santana and Rob Thomas' “Smooth.” The song introed with a humming of cello that eventually gave way to his powerful and husky voice. Praises can also be heaped on his take on Maroon 5’s pop hit, “Harder to Breathe.”

Langone, certainly, not only gained admirers for his singing but also for his toned body. Though he was the only one who kinda missed a note in belting out in higher key Bruno Mars’ “Grenade,” he more than made up for it by showing off his chiseled body during the group performance of Usher’s “DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love Again,” which sent the girls screaming.

Durbin wowed the audience not only because he emerged from the audience area, but by transforming the venue into a sort of rock (albeit briefly) with his superb solo performance of Guns N’ Roses “Sweet Child o’ Mine” and Muse's “Uprising.”

The Top 3 singers

After Reinhart, Alaina and McCreery’s solo performances, the audience somehow had a sense of what it must have felt like for the “Idol” judges when they were down to selecting the season's top two finalists.

Reinhart has a distinct, lounge-y voice that can actually topple Alaina’s commonplace country singing voice. However, the latter knows how to  connect to the audience more than the former. Although Alaina was pleasing to look at with her positive aura and lovely face, she was just rightfully second to McCreery in terms of singing as heard on her emotional yet mediocre version of  Kristy Lee Cook's hit, “Like My Mother Does.”

As for McCreery, his distinctly deep, built-for-country-singing voice works for him. He’s also naturally charming even though he barely dressed up for the show, just donning long-sleeves polo short and denim pants. His songs “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not” and "I Love You Big" were neither here nor there.

“American Idol Live! Tour 2011” was presented by ETC, Jack TV and Ovation Productions.